Protect, not kill Absolam

Keep in mind
So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. ⁵ The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

as we read...

⁶ David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷ There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.
⁹ Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.
¹⁰ When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”
¹¹ Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels^[b] of silver and a warrior’s belt.”
¹² But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels^[c] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.^[d]’ ¹³ And if I had put my life in jeopardy^[e]—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.”
¹⁴ Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵ And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.
Joab is such a person who does not understand the Father's love. David gave a command and Joab did not follow. A direct order that was refused by Joab. joab was supposed to be gentle with Absalom. To protect this young man, even though they were at war with them. So what is the reason that convinced Joab and eventually caused him to go off course, to kill Absalom instead of proecting him, violating the direct order that David gave him. Perhaps he was blood thirsty, wanting to end this meaningless conflict between both parties? Perhaps he hates Absalom for taking so many of his men? Perhaps he just want credit for the death of Absalom? But David gave him the order. Sometimes, we must really ask ourselves when we are given an order by God, what do we do with it. Do we follow or do we just do what pleases us and not God? just like what Joab done?

Father heart of God

18 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”

³ But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us.^[a] It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”
⁴ The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”
So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. ⁵ The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

I believe that God is showing us something very real here. HE is showing us that this is His love. David's love for his son is like God's love to us. Like only, that love is so much more. David displayed Godlyness when he decided to march out together with his men, though his men refused to let Him go because they were concerned with His safety. Even when he was leaving, the Bible did not mention about the battle strategies that David wanted to be executed. But He first talked about His son. He wants his son to live. This is a very significant point. When your son turned a nation against you, you will worry about this kind of stuff? But he did. Because He love his son. Regardless of what his son does, he still loves him because it is his son. Same for God. God loves us much more than this and his love covers all.

Absalom’s Death

²⁴ David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether,^[d] an Ishmaelite^[e] who had married Abigail,^[f] the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. ²⁶ The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim ²⁸ brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils,^{[g] 29} honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Killing of Absalom? It seems that David went out to pursue Absalom and to fight him, to defeat his "evil" son who is trying to usurp his throne. David must be feeling very frustrated now. He wants to fight his son but at the same time, do not want to fight his son too. Fight because son is fighting, Do not fight because he is son. So what is the best to do? I would say just fight. But i definitely know that that will not be what David does. David has the heart of God because he seeks the heart of God. Now they are preparing to fight Absalom. Drinking and eating to replenish their energy. But we see and understand that that is not what David intended to do, regardless the intent of the men.

Guard-Rails

17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I would^[a] choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. ² I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king ³ and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.” ⁴ This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

⁵ But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say as well.” ⁶ When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.”
⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. ⁸ You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops. ⁹ Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first,^[b] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.

The fact that we are discussing this show that Absalom is one whos does not walk closely with God, nor read his word. Never once was mentioned in the bible that God asks someone to kill his/her parents. Not even once. So the fact that he is discussing this shows that he has no respect what so ever for  God's rules stated in Exodus 20. Same for us today. Today we know that Bible, Christianity is not about rules, not only about rules. but more importantly about love. Love is the most important. Love covers all sin. Love is the one thing that wil redeem all and save all and cover all. Its like the antidote for anything. Heartbroken? you need more love, from God. Love is the most important, but rules are important too. because these are guidelines, As Pastor Daniel puts it, guard rails. So, these are important too. How often we crossed it? or wilfully sat on the guard rail itself? I had admit i did. We have to remember that if we do not respect those guard rails, we fail to respect God. Thats it, plain simple.

Good advice? What good advice?

¹⁵ Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s confidant, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
¹⁷ Absalom said to Hushai, “So this is the love you show your friend? If he’s your friend, why didn’t you go with him?”
¹⁸ Hushai said to Absalom, “No, the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and I will remain with him. ¹⁹ Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.”
²⁰ Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”
²¹ Ahithophel answered, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute.” ²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
²³ Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.

Good advice is more often than not, what we do not want to hear. Things that hurt us , things that come out of our good friend's mouth. These are the things that can help us and thats what we need and what God intended community for! This guy Ahithopel is not Godly, he gives advice that the king wants to hear, not that thing that would help the king most. If he really loved the king, he would have said something like, return your father to His rightful place and stop being such a young kid. It was unfortunate that he did not and he only said whatever that Absalom wanted to hear. That he is going to be king and the ways of which he is going to achieve that. Even if he is really going to be king, this way is not the way. God would not approve of this. He would be falling into the trap on doing the correct things at the wrong time. It would still amount to the wrong thing anyways. So, just a end note. Just trust in the Lord and in all things seek Him. Thats it. Nothing else. Eh! :D Praise the LORD.

Baby Steps

Was chatting with Brendy as she rant about her university life about pile of homework, taking babysteps to climb up the ladder of knowledge. Giving her an analogy of teaching a baby how to run. But how will a baby run, if he isn't taught how to take the 1st step? if the baby manage to run, what if he want to stop, he can't because he don't know how to even slow down, he might fall too, and he don't know how to get up after he fell down. likewise, as i chat this with her, i reflected on myself, with my walk with God. I have to take these babysteps too. I need to learn how to walk, how to get up when i fall, before i learn how to run. And not only learning them, i have to constantly do them. Why would i want to learn walking when i don't walk frequently. if i run just like that, i will just fall because i didn't know how to run properly and don't know how to stop. i need to build strong foundations, prayers, QT, mediating, reading the bible, are the babysteps, the walking, the getting up once you fell. So when i run, i will be able to evangelize properly; even as there are troubles, and i fell, i know how i can get back up.

The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew &:24-27

Great humility

⁵ As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul’s family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. ⁶ He pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David’s right and left. ⁷ As he cursed, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel! ⁸ The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a murderer!”
⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.”
¹⁰ But the king said, “What does this have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’”
¹¹ David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. ¹² It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.”
¹³ So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt. ¹⁴ The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.

Great humility is displayed. David took that in and did not retaliate. He could have commanded one of his troops to just kill him right on the spot. In fact his troops recommended that to David. Normal people whould have reacted. If someone came out of no where and started insulting you like this, would you not react, run away, scold him or something? Yes, that would be what normal people would do. He is a King. Imagine someone went to our president and started insulting him. His security guards would have pounced and killed the guy. He shows Godly humility. We still have so much to learn. What is Godly humility? This is.

Coveting

16 When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.

² The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?”
Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
³ The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?”
Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’”
⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”
“I humbly bow,” Ziba said. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”

I have learnt in this passage is coveting. People covet, jealous of one another's position. Here, people eye his throne. The throne that God had given over to David. Only the people who obey God's authority can be great. Here we see that Mephibosheth whom David shown kindness to turned away from David in these tough times and instead covet David's throne. Why is this? People's hearts are dark, evil. Regardless of how good we want ourselves to be. Out of so many times, what can garuntee our goodness, nothing. Power inspires sin, We see plainly that David's own son turning against him to usurp the kingship, which God has put over David and in the future Solomon. Absalom was not part of God's plan. And he wanted in, to plan himself into it. What is not yours, do not try to take, because you are challenging the almighty, Who has the final say in everything. You may have it today, but maybe not tomorrow. Power inspires sin, God knows we cannot handle that. So He gave us a commandment to seek Him first and its so true.  

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Its so true. If we fail, we would never fail to lead to sin. So seek him first, shall we? If sons of kings cannot guard against temptation of power, so how much can't we?

SFB~

It is a sermon that really spoke to me. Before i heard sermon, i love i have to honor my parents as it is pleasing in God eyes. But i have no ideas how. But i realised that there is more than 101 ways to do so, and Pastor Daniel only show us a few. During my trip to Indonesia, it really see how to honor my parents. And if i have to choose between God and parents, who i have to honor? At that time, my dad ask me if i could follow him to the temple and pray. But knowing i shouldn't enter to an idol temple as it will be displeasing to God. I had politely say no to my dad, and tell him i have to go somewhere else. During the trip, another way i honor my parents is to pray for them, even they are non Christians, my dad doesn't seem to mind if i pray for him. One problems i have to face is to "unable to send him off" when my parents pass away. Many times my dad spoke to me about it. Each time i prayed for opportunities to share Christ with them and they will receive Christ one day. I have to learn to honor my parents through actions like provide for their needs, give them enough for their and my needs, physically and financially, and to involve them in my life and taking care if them. It is really crucial to me realise i have to honor them. As time goes by, our time shortens, each day by each day, opportunities to honor my parents go by just like that. I have to grab on these opportunities and make use of it, not for only my sake, but for my parents' sake to know Christ, and for God sake for it is pleasing for Him. 

Xiaojon shared his qt with me today and I really thank him for that because I was feeling unwell and later's my exam.Really good timing.

Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.I have made you and I will carry you;I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
-Isaiah 46:3-4 (NIV)

This is for you Jacob!
Don't give up despite your sickness! God will always be by your side to take care of you and watch over you no matter how bad things can get! Have faith in HIM and pesevere through this one more week! :D Goodness awaits you at the end of every tough journey!
I pray for you to get well asap and keep moving foreward



Okay now this is me talking

->God made us and he will never leave us to perish. He is our saviour , provider and our everything.


-Jake.

Ephesians 4!

4:2
" be completely humble and gentle;be patient  bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace

You may ask.

Why do we have to bear with each other? Well simple because in John 13:34-45,

A commandment is given from Jesus!

"a new  commandment I give to you: love one another  as I have loved you,so you must love one another.By this all men will know that you  are my disciples,if you love one another "

Furthermore we should not habour anger toward a person

Ephesians 4:26-27

"in your  anger do not sin: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,and do  not give the devil  a foothold."

We often sin in anger because anger causes us to be unconscious  of our actions.The devil knows this and will not fail to use this area to control us!

Ephesians 3


God's mysterious plans revealed


It talks about Paul being imprisoned because he said he was the messiah.He mentioned that God revealed his plans to him but not in previous generations!

It shows us How lucky we are to be able to serve him now!
Ephesians 3:7" by God's  grace and mighty  power,I have been given the privilege of serving him and spreading this Good news." Imagine in the past.Once you get judged by God,you die immediately after comitting sin!

Note that Good had a capital "G" in it!

When God gives us the opportunities to share Christ with people,we should present ourselves as his servants and be honoured  by his request! He chose us!

One thing that really got my attention in Ephesians 3 is verse 3:8-9

"though  I am the least deserving of all God's  people,he graciously gave me the priviledge of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available  to them in Christ.I was chosen."

He chose us! Like wow even though we are underserving! Who are we man?

This tells  us How much Paul  was unable to do it the task on his own and with God's  help it is promised and will be done. God is and makes a difference!



Father in heaven I thank you for even today.Even for blessing me with food,health,friends,family and loved ones.I Thank you that I am able to serve you ! To even be forgiven  Of my sins and be your child God!
I pray to grow into a man of God  shaped by you Lord!  Teach and show me the right way father!My heart is for you!  My life is yours o Lord!
I Thank you so much for hearing me Lord.
In Jesus  name.Amen.

Jacob.

David weeps before the Lord

³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went. ³¹ And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

 People may see that this is a very simple passage. A passage that states David just went up to some mountain, called Mount of Olives and started to weep and bow before God. But what is the significance here? Do we remember that He is a King and his people went up with Him? We do not experience it thats why we just read with a grain of salt. A grain of Salt. Can you imagine our president, Singapore president, kneel down infront of God's altar crying and weeping? I cant imagine that after seeing Him in his power suit walking around with many body guards and his merz and his huge house.... The same man who is treated with high regard and esteem kneeling and bowing and crying before God? Imagine if he came to our church and really knelt towards God beside you. Do you think it is odd. Yes it is. We would say that because we recognize that he is a man of power. He can kneel before God unashamed, so can we. When we grow old and prideful. We just have to remember if David the king can humble himself, so can we.

John 4

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.^[a])

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

From this parable, i learnt several things. Jesus is a Son of man, as he is tired. Jesus is not baptized when he is gaining and baptizing disciples. This reflects on me as I am called to make disciples, am I bounded by because I am not baptized and so I do not have the authority to make disciples? When Jesus came into this world, He was making disciples, even being not baptized. Shouldn't I do the same? Only that I am a born again Christian. Another i got from is how the woman can't recognise Jesus. I asked myself, if there comes a day that Jesus just approach me for a drink or anything, will I be able to recognise Him? And how am I suppose to recognise someone that I didn't see before as in really see Him. It's really the same thing as worshipping God, as said in John 4:22: "You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews." How important it is for me, for us to know Jesus and not know of Jesus!!! And we have the resources to know Him in general(bible), and personally(QT, prayers, special revelations). And lastly, Jesus taught me, us how to worship the Father. He, Himself, being the Son of God, worship the Father too!! Verse23: " Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and the truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." From here, Jesus drops me a hint of what kind of worshipers the Father seeks. He want a TRUE worshipers. Looking at some other people worshipping other religion gods, like buddhism, most people go to their gods for 4D numbers, longevity, protection, health and even marriage. To me, they are treating their gods as a wishing well or in other words, idols, idol of longevity, idol of luck, idol of health. Am I, are we, treating our Father, the One and Only True God the same?? Am I, are we, worshipping God for He is God Himself and not for other HIDDEN motives?? This is the thing I have to check my heart constantly. And how am I going to worship God? Verse24 reminds me again: "God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and truth." If I worship in my own flesh, how am I going to reach the Father, who is a Spirit? And if I have not know the truth, how am I supposed to worship the True God? 

Ephesians 2

Made Alive With Christ

In this Chapter it talks about us being once dead because we used to live in this unworldly place  of sin.God being mercyful and graceful gave his son to redeem us!  Also known as salvation.
Because of this, we cannot take credit for it like say

" eh haha when u die I'm  going to heaven  and you hell! Too bad if you don't  wana know Christ,your business!

NO! Because  in Ephesians 2:11 " don't  forget that you gentiles used to be outsiders.You were called uncircumcised heathens (a person who do not belong to a widely held religion) by the Jews  ,who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected their bodies  and not their hearts"
This tells us to go out and make disciples of all nations and not be selfish because we are suppose to strive and be like Jesus! He didnt consider  selecting  a few to save when he died for us right?:)


Ephesian 2:14 "for Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jew  and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross,He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us."


Lord I thank you for even revealing  you love and sacrifices to me!  Thank you  loving father for speaking to me as I have asked.Lord you have showed me what it really means to study your word and build this relationship
 Lord. I Thank you for this brothers and sisters as well father for I would have still procrastinated.Father I ask for your forgiveness on this and I pray for more wisdom to be put forth from you  o Lord!  In Jesus most precious name I pray,Amen!


Jacob.

Ephesians 1

Ok so my qt is the whole 1St chapt of Ephesians 1:

God chose us to be his children and it is really important to take this to heart and know it because it was repeated twice in verse 1:4 and 1:11.

He already accepted us in advance.Our flaws included.We are all then given the gift of the holy spirit from Jesus.This comes with benefits such as eternal life,an intimate r/s with God and also the ability to do God's will.However we must not take salvation for granted because it all came for a price.Christ Jesus.

We too must note that God chose us not cause we deserve it but because he loves us and just wants the best for us and so he does it freely.

Also,salvation is God's work not ours.Which means when we are called by God to do sth it's best we follow!:)

So yeah this whole chapt is about God accepting us and how we view this gift of salvation that was given to us.Do we have enough faith to believe all these? How do we carry it out? Do we say it with our hearts or are they just words?

Something to really think about:)

-jake

David wnters a tough situation

³² While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵ Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Behold, their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

 God gave the kingdom to David, so it is God's decision to take it away. God had told David that Saul will be the next King, so he will be. So, regardless of whatever that happen, God will not forget David's throne and promise. So, this situation is nothing compared to what God can do. Even in "exile", David is still king, nothing can change that. He is in exile because of his lack of action to Absolum for the last 2 years. He have to pay the price of the lack of action that he took towards Absolum. But David was never overly affected and freak out. He remained his calm and proceeded. Because the throne was never decided by men, but by God. He understood that very fact. If he did not he would be in a all out war with his son already!. In tough situations like this do we trust God or trust men? Learn the heart of David! In God we trust.

More of Him, Less of me

John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less.

This verse has spoken to me, quite timely too. As I have encountered a few problems of my own. that i would ask myself, why do these have to happen on me. Then I would start worrying how am I going to get through these situations. Little do I notice that I am drifting away from the Lord, when all of my problems are not just my problems, but it's Lord problems, for He has created me, and He knows of my problems and the solutions to them. He must become greater; I must become less. Even as problems come, who do I turn to? my ownself, or the Lord? Is my worry bigger than God? if it is, God will never be in the picture. I have to take note of even for my life, I have to put God first. Even for the slightest problem i encountered. For I am Christian now, and even before I am called TT. His Name is far bigger than my own name.

David and Absalom

¹³ A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”
¹⁴ Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.”
¹⁵ The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”
¹⁶ The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. ¹⁷ So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. ¹⁸ All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.

Absalom usurped David's position as king! Why is that happening? While David was still in total power, He had allowed Absalom to reign freely, gaining support of people sneakily. David must have knew all these, BUT he kept quiet. Imagine if He came out of the closet and told his son about what he is not supposed to have - the throne. David knew, God told him that the person to take over the throne is Saul not Absalom. Whatever that we do and not do is really important. Because it really important to grow people. we can only groom people properly if we correct them, not to just encourage them. I think thats a really important point. If we can do that, then we can build Godly men and women. We have to ask this question ultimately. Do we love/fear God more than we love/fear of the person. If not sometimes we would end up in this situation in what David is. Maybe we would not be this severe, but in this situation nonetheless.

So so blessed by the Lord once again.

A friend and I were discussing our qt together an hour ago and then God prompted us to rech out to form a fellowship of christians within our class.Turns out had given them a sign too !

It's really awesome how all of our sharing about God telling us what to do or, what they prayed and asked from God to happen , really come together and realising that God wants to put us together to take account for one another !

Really, what a night !

Thank you Jesus.

-JAKE :)

Indonesia Trip

1st day in Indonesia
Everyone here wake up as early as 7am(Indonesia time) it's so much easier to wake up early to do QT as my relatives already started to chat in the morning. I sleep no longer and woke up, bath, brush teeth and do my QT and prayers. There is no warm water here and water is precious. In the past, my relatives would go out early to the water source and fetch water. That explains those big water tanks I see in the kitchen. Because of those little cold water, yup, I definitely awake. My QT today was about Jesus turning water into wine, the first miracle that Jesus did to show His Power and Glory. And how obedient would the servants follow His instructions without doubts and questions. It reflects my life, when I has my own problems and troubles, how much faith i have in the Lord, my Saviour who will help me to solve the problems? Do I doubt Him? Do i believe that in Him, miracles do happen?? Another thing i get from the parable, that the Lord solve their problems with His miraculous signs. He did not solve them by helping the maids to get away from the situation. I  ask myself, when troubles arise, i normally will try to get out of the situation. Will it solve the problems? No. It just prevent myself to be involved in the situation. And this is the thing. How would i being able to glorifies the Lord, allowing Him to do His miracles if i am not even in the situation that requires a miracle? There will be no miracle if i am not there, working hand in hand with Him. Our Lord is able to turn a situation to good as long as we have faith in Him and not running away from it. 

Now i am on my way to Bintan, it is just a few hours journey from Tanjung Pinang on car. 11.30am

1pm, we reached Bintan resorts. There is a long stretch of road in there before we reached our destinations. 

We have reached our destination. There is a beach where we enjoy the scenery awhile. Then we walk down the road and found a small animals and birds zoo along the walkway. There are mouse deer, snakes, birds of prey, very big fishes and an enclosure with many deer(i get to feed the deer as there is a feeding box full of grass). It is so awesome! While i enjoying the time feeding the deer, there is a huge downpour that we have to flee to the car. And there we go to get something to eat. 2.35pm

3.05, we arrived at Restaurant Kampoeng Nelayan, opened by a cousin' girlfriend' family. 

The "tea break" was marvellous. Chilli crab, kan gong, omelette, soup and beancurd. We ate our fills and take a look at the lobsters and crabs and prawns they are keeping. They are so huge!! They are actually king crabs, pearl lobsters, bamboo lobsters and mantis prawns. The mantis prawns are huge! It is so huge that they have to cut off their feelers and pinchers. As we are eating halfway, the restaurant power being cut off. Not only the restaurant itself but the whole street. This is very normal here in Indonesia, especially at night. We always get torches and candles ready for this kind of events. And this is the root cause that started a fire that burned down my old wooden home in Indonesia 5 years ago. It is so terrible. 

4.09pm, we left Bintan Resorts to home. In Indonesia, you can see the sky so clearly as through they are so close to you. There is no HDB, here, it is like a terrace home stretch throughout the streets. The max levels of a house is 3~4 floors. In some parts, there is so much forests, trees around. Open land. However, the road is narrow(a one-lane road that is shared to both direction of vehicles) and less traffic. Because of that, there are more motorbikes than cars. There is no arrows on the road indicating which direction a vehicle should go. There is no guardrails or guardlines too. There is no much walkway either. Hence it is important that we, predestrians, able to cooperate with the drivers, to give ways. Unlike Singapore' rush culture, even the cars/motorbikes are much slow pace. 

There is rain now. And there is no much drainage system here compared to Singapore. Most rainwater often flows to the sea as our homes are build on wooden planks above a part of the sea(like a fishing village). It must be great to have a town built like a fishing village yea? But the "sea" is not really a sea anymore. If you want to see water pollution, welcome to my hometown. Our "seas", the place where we built our houses, has become a dump as residents in the past, and maybe now, threw their waste into the sea. One doesn't seems much but a whole town is enough to see the impact of water pollution. What is worst is that the Indonesia government didn't do anything about it. So my relatives has been living with the dump for as long as i remembered. The last time i see water below my house is far before the fire incident. When i was 7~8 years old, i still can see water during high tide, and dump, when it is low tide.

5.08pm we reached at a popular temple, a tourist attraction. Maitri Graha. I didn't go inside as i know i would be worshipping idols so i stayed outside. I walked around the temple and it is filled with bunches of dragonfruit plants. Interestingly, those plants are cactus like. And me and my family keep a lookout for ripe dragonfruits so we can pick them to take home. Sadly, there is none. We pay our respects to my decreased youngest uncle whose ashes lies in this temple. And we are back on the road home. 5.39pm

10.00pm i had my dinner and watching getai from CDs. Getais are super popular here in Tanjung Pinang. In fact, some of my uncles are part of the famous getai band in Tanjung Pinang, Ocean Blue. They once represent Tanjung Pinang to go to Taiwan and play for the getai hosting there. 
I was prompted to pray for my Dad' long illness of leg injury. It is kinda common for elderly. I was prompted to pray for him as i learnt that my fengshui uncle told my Dad to worship a snake god. I was like, ridiculous!!! You need to go to a snake to get your leg healed? I have a real God that heal any sicknesses, any illnesses!! I recalled that my QT is about faith, how much faith do i have that my God will heal my Dad? Like how my God healed me of my diarrhea problems. I going to take this step of faith to pray for my Dad later on.  

Notice that there is a balcony on 3rd floor! I can see the stars clearly!!! It is so beautiful! 

11pm pray with my Dad for healing. had a small yet touching chat with him too (something that i has never did so) We talked about his leg, learnt abit more about him. He didn't really believe that God will heal him. i shared to him my testimony on how God heal me of my diarrhea. He has no comments. We talked about our faith too. And asked why do he worships idols. But he been beating around the bush all the time. My Dad once go church too. But stopped going because he didn't feel anything from there. And from his eyes, i can see that he is worried that no one will send him off if he pass away, as I believe in God now. I am kind of worried too. But God assures me to have faith in Him. We talked about my own problems too. We went to sleep after that.

2nd day
i woke up at 7am do my QT. Today parable is "Jesus clear the temple". The people sell their belongings, livestocks in the temple. Jesus is furious and chased the people and livestock away. The people demand Jesus that if He could do miraculous signs. He told them: destroy the temple and i will rebuild it 3 days later.  What i learnt from this is that the Lord see a bigger picture than us. The temple he meant is actually himself. And He keep His promises. If He said He will do it, He definitely will. Even if we carry doubts about Him, He will still do His miracles to show His Glory and Authority. 

I dreamed that God is healing my Dad. In the dream, God has telling me to have faith, faith that my Dad will be healed. Non stop till I woke up. Dad tells me that night, he only felt a small pain on his knees. I don't know if God is healing him. But I do believe that God is healing him.

Day 2 is the day we buy our jumbo mumbo to bring to Singapore. I did my first shopping using my own money now too. Indonesia currency is hard to read. Because the people mostly speak Hokkien. It is hard to associate their understanding of "wan"(which they meant 10000) with mine, which I thought its 1000000. Moreover, I am fully using 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 in Hokkien to buy things. I bought indomie, crackers for NC and a hp for NS use. On our way home now. 10.41am

Took notice of some crabs crawling around the "sea" nearby my house. My Mum is with me, looking out for crabs. She told me, last time the water used to be very clear, so clear that you  can see crabs underneath the water. There were horseshoe crabs and fishes too. And they used to swim there and catch crabs using strings to lure them up. Now, there is no more horseshoe crabs nor fishes. I only get to see some species of crabs scrambling around. There is small dull sea snake (look like worm but too intelligent to be a worm), sea cockroaches and some shelled creatures.

12noon on our way to Bintan area to find a popular seafood restaurant. Fell asleep as im too tired. 12.40 woke up and realised that we are stopping by a street at Bintan for a break. The soya milk here is pretty different than in Singapore. It is so much sweeter and they use coconut milk in them too. 

1pm we reach our destination. It is so unique. A something we never get to see in Singapore. There are huts built along the seaside, for us to have our meals there. A seaside restaurant. We had sauced chicken, black peppered sotong, fried prawns and some vegetables for lunch. My cousin got stung by a bee because he is holding onto a stick pole which is a "hideout" for the bees. Got medicated oiled and we stuffed some tissue papers inside the holes so they wont come out stinging people. And we are off to Ramayana for some shopping. 2.22pm

4.30pm just return home from Ramayana. They sell mostly clothes, have an Indonesian bookshop(really mostly in Melayu) and a supermarket like Singapore' Giant, only cheaper. As we get home, we have a second round of durian session. 

6.18pm i am now at Riau holiday inn, there is a small boat port here. Waiting for the sunset as i watch the eagles catching the fishermen catch of the day.

The sunset is covered by clouds but it is uniquely beautiful. It so different to see a sunset from a fishing village. 

7.15pm walking home for dinner and saw a family store opened by my relative' neighbour. Family stores are pretty popular here. For each stretch of housing, there will always be a family store. My relatives opened a cafe below where they are living. Bought a few snacks for NC and return home. 

10.13pm bedtime. The ferry ride is 9am tomorrow(Indonesian Time). 

This parable talks about how Nicoduemus have doubts about Jesus as He continues His miraculous signs. And this is where John 3:16, For God so loved the world, He send His One and Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perished, but shall have eternal life. But what caught by attention is how Jesus reply to Nicodemus with the truth even He was doubted. I asked myself that when I was doubted, even when I didn't do anything wrong, how did I reply to the "doubter"? I reflected that I will have these thoughts of "why did you not trust me?" I will reply them with a "pekcek" tone and sometimes i would ignore them, thinking, they believe what they want, i can't control their thoughts. But Jesus speak to them, with the truth, even He is doubted, one time, second time and even the third time. Without fail, He would reply them calmly. Another thing that caught my attention is,  19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been seen through God. To me, it is kind of interesting of how Jesus spoke this. It spoke of two contrasts. Men that love darkness and men who live with the truth. I pictured this: once the world is darkness, we can't see in the dark. So whatever we do is unseen. We love the darkness because it covers our doings, good or bad, just like how a thief would steal at night as the darkness masks his actions. We love the darkness and its empty promise of "don't worry, we will cover you. No one would notice what you just did," when God, who is all-knowing, already know what you just did. But the light comes into the world, exposing all the works we are doing, every secrets we are keeping. As light comes, all of the darkness fades away. The darkness hate the light as the light would destroy them. Just as if someone would shine a torch   at the thief, he would cry out in fear, fear that his deed has been found out. Fear of being thrown to prison. Just like the people who lives in darkness, once they are found of the sins they committed, hell awaits them. There is one thing of people who love the darkness, they often cover up their tracks so the light would find them. Just like a careful thief would wear gloves and cover their footprints. But they have the chance to go into the light, to live with truth. Just as the thief who is caught by the torch being handed to the police. He admitted that he steal because that he is poor and has no food. With this truth, he will be given food, and a job opportunity. However, he have to serve in prison as there is consequences in freewill. But he would have avoid that prison statement if he live with the truth and talk to the town council about it. He might not know about them, and that is where people around him should tell him about it. If only someone told him that he can help from the council, chances that he would not risk stealing. If only, we, citizens of the Kingdom tell the people living in the darkness that there is a Provider who provide our every needs. A Saviour who can save them from the verge of hell. How then they will continue living in the darkness? 

930am, going to the port, returning home. 

11.45 the ferry move out. I am seated separately from my parents.

1.14, the ferry almost capsize.

1.25 i see Singapore land. We have reach tanah merah ferry terminal.

Spirit Of Excellence

Lately I've been living this out for the whole month at home.Today I'm glad to say God has changed me yet again.My patience level/ tolerance has gone up like 99 times? hahaha !

I realised this today while doing house chores.I found out that I no longer whined whenever I was tired or extremely thirsty.Man you should have seen my parents face when they came whole seeing my hand mop the entire house from top level to bottom.Priceless.

House chores may seem like a torture.But God has shown me that a simple activity like that can change my attitude and perspective about things.The whole time I was talking to God and he was cheering me to go on.All he said was "Do you want to honour me?"

All I had to do was serve in the spirit of excellence of doing more through God.

I'm really really happy what God has done for me and really Thank you so so much !


Ps: This is a part I'll be sharing during LG :) (sneak peak)

-Jake

a hit in the head

15 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. ² He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.” ⁴ And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.”

⁵ Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶ Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel.
⁷ At the end of four^[a] years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. ⁸ While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.^[b]’”

Absalom is trying to usurp the position of king. The sermon came up to me reminded me of Pastor saying that David did nothing to stop Absalom from usurping the king's position. Because position is not his. The position is not his and so David should stop him. He knows for sure Saul will take over his position as king, but he is not doing anything to stop Absalom. This is the begining of Absalom's rebel but David should have done something. If David like just smack Absalom in the head or something, he would have woken up and stop. As a discipler, i need to really recognize that. Recognize that my disciples are in my charge and what they do in my charge is my responsiblity. If they fail, i failed.

Do what you preach

²³ Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. ²⁴ But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.
²⁵ In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. ²⁶ Whenever he cut the hair of his head—he used to cut his hair once a year because it became too heavy for him—he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels^[b] by the royal standard.
²⁷ Three sons and a daughter were born to Absalom. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she became a beautiful woman.
²⁸ Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king’s face. ²⁹ Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come. ³⁰ Then he said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
³¹ Then Joab did go to Absalom’s house, and he said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”
³² Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent word to you and said, ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!”’ Now then, I want to see the king’s face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.”

David was not a man who obeyed God and did Godly things 24/7. But he love God. He love God. He wants to seek Him so closely. Always so closely. Whatever He did, He returned to God. If he sinned, he came back to God. Whatever and whenever, he always never fails to come back to God, because he know the Father. In this case, he really did what he preached. He told the women that he will pardon the sin of the son. Protect the son from harm. But he did not do the same for his own son, Absalom previously. But now he did, he acted it out, pardoned his son, by allowing him to return to Israel. It was such a great time of reconciliation. It is very important as us Christians to do whatever we preach. A lot of Christians are called Christians and say all the holy stuff, but do we actually live it? If we do live it, do we really live it? Even in the lives that is out of the public's eye? The things we do and think without the presence of Chirstians. With our non Christian friends? DO we act and think the same? Or is it different? We need to learn this from this story, that at all times we check ourselves and our hearts.

Banished?

¹³ The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son? ¹⁴ Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.
¹⁵ “And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will grant his servant’s request. ¹⁶ Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’
¹⁷ “And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”


This is very significant to what David went through. He did not banish His son Absolum, but He did not recall him back to our kingdom. Joab is testing the king based on his own logic. If he can allow this decision to be done upon the women, the king must be able to bring forth this same attitude and logic upon himself. This is to pardon a sin, a murder. This spoke to me in the sense that if the leader does not does and belive in whatever he preach? Then who is he to preach. God is a good example. He does what He preaches. He preached about love. God sent His Son(essentially Himself) down to earth to show us that. He did not just talk, just preach, but He showed us that. As I grow in my Christian faith, it is important that I do what i preach. I believe in what i preach. That i may be truthful to myself and to God.

Gospel as our partner

Philippians 1:5, "Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."
The keyword of this verse is "partnership", partnership in the gospel. How or what do we view the gospel as? A truth? A good news? A little something that we use to evangelize to strangers or friends? This verse reveals a whole new perspective, gospel as a partner. Just like a partner in work, you will help him, he will help you with stuffs. He will work with you, you will work with him. You and him will have that relationship toward each other. And you will know more about him as you work with him. So there will be a time when you need to introduce your partner to your friends, your colleagues, your family. You will able to introduce him to them, share about what we had been working on together. How he has working with me. What is his nature like. Likewise, gospel as a partner, working in my life,  helping me, building a relationship with each other. It brings a total different view in how we share gospel to people. Instead of sharing, we introduce the gospel to them, telling them how gospel work in my life, how we are related, the nature of the gospel. 
We no longer see gospel as a mere gospel, but as a partner for life. Which brings me to the next keywords, "from the first day until now." Am I allowing the gospel to work with me everyday? Or is it just an "office hour" thing? So gospel is not just a "office hour" partner but a partner for life. And i need to embrace this partner, truly work with him, allowing him to work in my life, for life.